2013年8月13日 星期二

夏威夷提供遊民單程機票移出該州

Hawaii will become the latest place in the U.S. to offer one-way plane tickets
to homeless people, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat. Last week,
legislators voted to allocate (分配、分派) $100,000 to fund a pilot “return to home” program
run by the state’s Department of Human Services that will set aside seats on
airplanes — and possibly cruise ships — for homeless people seeking a way to
return to loved ones in other states.

To qualify (符合資格) for the trial (試驗、試用), participants must complete a background check, be
mentally sound, and have what the bill calls “sufficient personal hygiene.” The
program is voluntary, and homeless individuals can only enroll (參與) in it once.

Supporters say sending homeless people back
to their friends and relatives will enable them to get back on their feet in a
more supportive environment. It’s also an effort to reduce the number of
homeless people in the state, which is estimated at 17,000, the Honolulu Civil
Beat reports.

But critics — who include the very people
charged with running the Hawaii initiative (創始) — argue that the program does not have nearly enough funding to
solve the state’s homelessness problem. Others say the offer could be easily
abused. “At the end of the day, however, we remain concerned this program is an
invitation to purchase a one-way ticket to Hawaii with a guaranteed return flight
home,” Kayla Rosenfeld, the spokesperson for the state’s Department of Human
Services, said in a statement recently. Local pols (politicain的縮寫) like Rep. John Mizuno told
Hawaii News Now that just sending a “handful” (少數) of homeless people home for a little while would still help the
state save money on food, shelter, and medical costs.

New York City, Baton Rouge and San Francisco have all tried similar
programs. New York City implemented (實施) its version in 2007, flying more than 550 homeless people back to
their families in places like Paris, Orlando, and San Juan (the most popular
destination), according to a 2009 article in the New York Times. Homeless
advocates (擁護者)
vehemently (竭盡全力的) opposed
(反對) the scheme
(計劃). “What
we’re doing is passing the problem of homelessness to another city,” Arnold S.
Cohen, CEO of Partnership for the Homeless, told the Times. “We’re taking
people from a shelter bed here to the living room couch of another family.
Essentially (實質上), this family is still homeless.”

More recently, Baton Rouge’s city council approved a plan in
June to provide free bus rides to eligible (合適的) homeless people run by the city’s
police department, Think Progress reports. (Its original name was “Clean
Sweep,” but to avoid comparing people living on the street to bags of garbage,
the program has been renamed “HOPE” for “Homeless Outreach (拓廣、延伸) Prevention Efforts,”
according to the Advocate.) But local advocates for the homeless have expressed
concern that busy officers won’t have time to follow-up with participants and
check their progress.

To avoid similar problems in Hawaii, Mizuno has said
he would consider shifting control of the “return-to-home” program to
non-profits that have experience working with the homeless. Until then, state
officials promise to follow-up (繼續的) with participants a month after they move to make sure they’re
doing well in their new homes.